President
Devi Mueller, CAS
Seal Beach, CA

Ayurveda carries into the modern world all of the necessary elements for health; not only for individuals in body, mind, and spirit, but on a larger communal level. Ayurveda's potential for healing on all levels has become central to my life. I have been involved with NAMA since 2002 when I first joined as a student member. As the Conference Manager for the 2004 annual NAMA Conference held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, I became actively involved with the Board of Directors as well as with the membership. As a member of the Board, I participate actively on the Membership Committee and the Conference Committees.

My experience has given me an opportunity to be a part of the inner workings of the NAMA Board. At this juncture in my life it is time to offer my extensive organizational and developmental skills to assist in the success of the mission of NAMA. As Ayurveda grows more visible in the U.S., it will require those whose backgrounds carry the experience and know-how to advocate for, represent and present to diverse organizations the benefits and goals supported by the association. As a member of the Board, I offer this expertise.

Secretary
Hilary Garivaltis
Florida, MA

I have been able to serve NAMA as a full Board member in 2007 and as a volunteer since 2004. I have been active on the Education Committee, Membership Committee 2008 Conference Committee and currently co-chair the Standards Committee. I am passionate about this work and am honored to be able to serve this community. I am the current Dean of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and in this role have kept close ties with many organizations and programs in India.

As a Dean and administrator I have had the opportunity to interact directly with students of Ayurveda, teachers from all over the world and with the public. Through my connection with Kripalu, I am also in a position to observe trends in wellness and healing first hand through our 25,000 guests that pass through our doors on a yearly basis. I feel uniquely qualified to continue to serve this community with a variety of perspectives and skills.

Treasurer
Wynn Werner
Albuquerque, NM

My life is dedicated to supporting the re-emergence of Ayurveda as a guide for daily living and a critical component of modern integrated healthcare. I believe my experience and activities can be used by NAMA to further its Mission and Goals. My skills have been acquired over 30 years as a principal in partnerships and corporations, and include the ability to organize and manage diverse amounts of information, data, and people.

I work well with many different people and am able to facilitate group interactions. I am action and results oriented. I have a good understanding of and competency in computer: hardware, software, websites, email, etc. I have considerable experience in legal issues, accounting and tax preparation and have been relied upon to provide NAMA with this expertise. I am a founding Board Member of NAMA and helped draft the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws in the two years prior to its incorporation in 2000.

I am actively involved in several committees and continue to work for the Mission and Goals of NAMA, its growth and recognition in the healthcare community and serve its members.

Vaijayanti (Jay) Apte, BAMS, MS
Foster City, CA

I have been involved in the Ayurvedic field for more than 30 years and I have seen how Ayurveda has grown. My objectives as a Board member will be to help unify and standardize Ayurvedic education throughout the country and offer in depth seminars and workshops to educate students to take them to a higher level.

Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD, MPH, HHC, CAPc
New York, NY

A holistic family physician involved with Ayurveda for nearly ten years, Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya directs the Dinacharya Institute for Wise Medicine in New York and Betel Nut Productions, a documentary film company. She serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College and teaches at nearly a dozen institutions of learning in the US. Her formal training includes 18 years of formal schooling, including an MD and residencies in family practice and preventive medicine, an MPH in international health, PhD work in pharmacology and neuroscience, training in holistic nutrition and a level one course in ayurveda in the US, as well as through formal gurukula in India via an annual sojourn. She uses these trainings and skills to serve the ayurveda community in the US, along with her work for seven years on the Boards of Trustees and Directors of several national health and medical associations and through decades of community volunteer work.

Bhaswati is the recipient of the Arogyadham 2008 Award for Outstanding Services in Global Ayurveda. She served as a keynote speaker at the 2006 national NAMA conference. Bhaswati was selected as the Commencement Graduate Orator at Harvard University in 1993, and is the recipient of a 1998 American Holistic Medical Association national award. She received the 2004 AMA Leadership Award for her work in holistic medicine and international health. Her work has been featured in a documentary called Healers: Journey into Ayurveda, that premiered worldwide in July 2003, on The Discovery Channel.

She hopes to use her pitta-kapha nature, collaborative attitude, and experiences in ayurveda and in holistic medicine to serve NAMA in its mission to set high standards for organizing and guiding education, practice and research of ayurveda in the US. You may contact Dr. Bhaswati at bhaswati@post.harvard.edu, 212 645 6745.

Cynthia Copple, CMT
Capitola, CA

As a founding Board Member, and recently as President of NAMA, I have been involved in every aspect of the development of this national organization, from the legal aspect, management and financial aspect to participating in nearly every committee. I am passionately involved in increasing Ayurvedic education, training Ayurvedic Practitioners and bringing the wisdom of Ayurveda to the public awareness. As a 24-year Practitioner myself and Director of Lotus Holistic Health Institute, as well as Dean of the Mount Madonna Institute College of Ayurveda, I bring many skills as well as my passion for Ayurveda to NAMA and hope to continue on the Board.

I believe Ayurveda must be licensed in order for the profession to grow. This will help the public as the profession will then be regulated, and it will help the profession as it will create a wider acceptance and understanding of the value of Ayurveda. If elected, I plan to work to create a template for the licensing effort which can then be followed by other states. I also plan to work on licensing Ayurveda in my state, California. In addition, I plan to work towards creating state chapters of NAMA who can work together towards our common goals, including licensing. I will continue my efforts to enlist new members and improve our communication with members.

Paul Dugliss, MD
Santa Barbara, CA

Paul Dugliss, M.D., practices Internal Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine in Santa Barbara, CA. He is also trained an acupuncturist and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Keesha Ewers Morris, MSN, ARNP, AAP
Issaquah, WA

Keesha Ewers, ARNP, Masters of Ayu. Sc., has been in the medical field for over 24 years. It was after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and finding no cures in the western medical tradition that she began exploring "alternative medicine" routes and found Ayurvedic medicine, which completely cured her "incurable disease". Keesha is a Certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) with a specialty in primary care or family practice (FNP) and has a Master's degree in Ayurveda. She is a certified yoga teacher, herbalist, Reikki Master and trained Shaman, which add richness and new dimensions to diagnosing and treating disease.

Her role in the world is that of bridging, empowering and transforming. Keesha travels the world studying indigenous ways of healing and has come to the conclusion that our spirituality and stories of creation cannot be separated from what is happening in the body, or on contemporary political and social stages in the world. These experiences, along with Keesha's dynamic personal practice and commitment to healing have made her clinic in Issaquah, Washington, Fern Life Center, a resounding success. It is one of the first of its kind: a fully-staffed, Nurse Practitioner-run, Ayurvedic primary care practice and Pancha Karma center.  This innovative clinic, with its emphasis on meditation and self-awareness, is an outgrowth of her lifelong dedication to consciousness.  (www.FernLifeCenter.com)

Keesha has had the blessing of many great teachers at Seattle University, Utah State University, and Bastyr University. She studied Ayurveda with Dr. Vivek Shanbhag, Dr. Vasant Lad, and Dr. Light Miller, among others in India and around the world.

Dr. Pratibha Shah, BAMS, MD Ayurveda,

Pratibha Shah graduated with a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) degree from KGMP Ayurvedic College, Mumbai in 1989. She completed her Masters in Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana from National Institute of Ayurved, Jaipur, in 1993. Her dissertation entailed clinical trial of Antardhoom Tamra Sindoor on Apasmar (Epilepsy), in collaboration with the Neurology Department of Sawai Mansingh Hospital, Jaipur and also standardization of preparation of Antardhoom Tamra Sindoor.

Felicia M. Tomasko, BA, RN
Santa Barbara, CA

Felicia Marie Tomasko RN, E-RYT 500, has been studying and practicing Ayurveda since 1993, and teaching yoga since 1997. She is a registered nurse in California and has studied in the Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga therapy and Ayurveda, pancha karma therapist and Ayurvedic educator programs at the Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda and at Alandi Ashram. In addition to her work in yoga and Ayurveda, Felicia has degrees in nursing and environmental biology and has worked in cognitive neuropsychology and plant biochemistry research at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Her passion is the integration of yoga and Ayurveda with modern medicine and daily life. Felicia She has edited and contributed to numerous books and articles in health, yoga and Ayurveda and medicine and currently writes regular health columns in newspapers and magazine in California as well as an Ayurveda blog. Since 2002, Felicia has worked at LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine where she is currently the editor in chief. Felicia is on the editorial board of Light on Ayurveda Journal, on the board of directors of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, maintains a private Ayurveda and Yoga therapy practice in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California and teaches Ayurveda and yoga therapy in teacher training programs across the U.S.

Yogamaya Doe Wails, CSYT, ERYT, SA Wise Earth Ayurveda
Honesdale, PA

I feel it is important to be willing to take responsibility for framing the future of the dissemination of the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda in modern times. I am willing to participate with my colleagues in the Vedic sciences, to determine the most responsible courses of action. Particularly capable of bringing ideas into form, I have been involved in many projects that require start up facility. Among these are:

Founding Executive Director of Yoga Alliance, opening the office and setting up programs and procedures. Personally interviewing and registering all schools and teachers for the first 2 years. Off site conference representation, staffing and presenting.

Developer and initial facilitator of the position of Enrollment advisor for Master Yoga Teacher Institute its many programs.

Ambassador at large for the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Philosophy and Science during the Akhanda Japa, Year Long Meditation.

C0-Founder, co-owner and co-operator of the premier Yoga and Ayurveda learning center in eastern Pennsylvania (est1995) under the tutelage of Sri Swami Mayatitananda , Spiritual Head and Founder of Wise Earth School of Ayurveda. Swami Nirmalananda,  Founder and Spiritual Head of Master Yoga Teacher Institute. Finally, currently hand picked teacher in training of Shakta Vansya Auyrved with Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra.

Right now I serve in the programming department at Himalayan Institute where Ayurveda and vedic lifestyle are exemplified and demonstrated for the last 30 years.

My current education is with Shakta Vansya Auyrved and Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra. I credit my vedic lifestyle for the exuberance with which I am able to serve my family, community and humanity.